Films de la vallée de la m

The following movies were filmed (in part) in Death Valley. Having just journeyed there i can see how the mystique and intrigue of this magical and haunting place can inspire. These movies are classics in their own right and worth seeing, if not only for the picturesque landscape. Buona visione!

Zabriskie Point- " How you get there depends on where you're at"

This film is filmed in Death Valley and Los Angeles. A very important part of the film takes place at Zabriskie Point, where our boy and girl meet and "blow their minds". Mark is a troublesome youth in revolt and not sure what stand to take. He

flees L.A. with a stolen plane after being accused of killing a cop at a student protest which turns riotous. He flies to Death Valley where he meets and makes love to Daria, a secretary who drove there for a business venture. She is a quirky, free spirit who digs and loves all things and only works to pay the way.

This film was directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and features the music of Pink Floyd and others. The explosive finale is musically enhanced by Antonio's use of slo-mo and the Pink Floyd song "Come in # 51 your time is up"

One

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Jacks

This film not only stars Marlon Brando, but he directed it as well. It is the old west where bank robbing was a trade and any one with guts could where a badge. Brando plays Kid Rio, another young misguided soul who is morally confused. He is the Jack Kerouac of the west. His Neal Cassady is Dad Longworth (Karl Malden) who after leaving him for dead (at Zabriskie Point) becomes the local town sheriff. Kid Rio seeks his revenge on Longworth and falls for his step daughter, Louisa, as well. It all comes to a bloody end and the scenes between Louisa and the kid are Brando at his best.

Vanishing Point-"Thrills, spills and a handful of pills" Kowalski, our ex-lawman and driver extraordinaire, is a renegade driver transporting a car ( a souped up Dodge Challenger no less) from Denver to San Francisco. Subsequently, he drives through Death Valley and meets some hippies, including a nude motorcyclist chick. He is speeding in more ways than one as he is fueled by bennies the entire trip. He also has a radio Dj by the name of Super Soul who monitors the police band and gives him updates over the radio. This film made in 1971 is classic for it's car chases and as Super Soul reminds us "speed means freedom of the soul"

Can ya dig it?

Here's to the losers...

Here is a tribute to some of comic greatest losers...read 'em and weep:

The Wrecking Crew: Wrecker, Thunderball, Piledriver and Bulldozer

They started off with a bang by gaining Asgardian Power, but were soon defeated by Thor and ended up in jail. In their defense they break out every time, yet can never defeat the super heroes they face (Spider-man and Spider-woman, Alpha Flight,

Thor, Hercules, etc.) In addition, there is a power struggle for command of the crew between The Wrecker and Thunderball. This has them at times battling each other as well as their daily do-gooder, but as a typical bad-guy gang does they keep getting together like a dysfunctional family of sorts.

Frightful Four: Wizard, Trapster, Sandman and various others

Speaking of dysfunctional families, these guys take the cake. They began working together after a prison breakout (where all good evil relationships are fostered) and due to the obsession by Wizard to best Reed Richards, they took on the Fantastic Four. The team of three used both Medusa and Thundra as a temporary fourth member, both of whom turned on them and helped the F.F. defeat them. Since then it has been a number of different villains filling in (Brute, Electro, Llyra and others) More recently though Wizard and Trapster are the two original members while adding two replacements in their conquest to defeat the F.F. No matter, the Frightful Four always seem to find a way to screw it up and have been getting the hides handed to them by the F.F. for years on end. The good news is Wizard will never stop as he truly believes he is smarter than Reed. So, stay tuned...

Morbius: The Living Vampire

That's right he's not dead. As a Doctor with a rare blood disease, Michael Morbius, he tried to cure himself by injecting bat fluids into his body and when mixed with electroshock treatments-Morbius the living vampire was born. He lives on human blood and hates himself for it. Numerous attempts to cure his current state have been futile. He vows never to kill again, but his insatiable thirst for blood is too much to overcome. He is one sorry sucker.

Nightshade

Tilda Johnson grew up in Harlem with an aptitude for science. She accumulated knowledge in the areas of cybernetics, genetics and physics through which she created an army of werewolves. In tandem with the yellow Claw she attempted to defeat Captain America and the Falcon, but was bested and thought dead when she escaped off a high cliff to certain death. She in fact survived and went on to be defeated by Power Man and Iron Fist and Captain America again, not before turning him into CapWolf. For the latter she is hated by all comic fans and is given the ultimate loser tag.